Method and apparatus for filling precooled material into a row of refrigeration cells



May 22, 1962 o. G. HQYER 3,035,417

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING PRE-COOLED MATERIAL INTO A ROW OF REFRIGERATION CELLS Filed Aug. 3, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR OLUF G-UDMUAID HZYER ATTORNEYS G. HQYER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING PRE-COOLED MATERIAL INTO A ROW OF REFRIGERATION CELLS 1959 May 22, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5,

INVENTOR OLU F GUDMU/VD HHY R BY MMM ATTORNEY;

May 22, 1962 o, HQYER 3,035,417 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING PRE-COOLED MATERIAL INTO A ROW OF REFRIGERATION CELLS Filed Aug. 5, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 h m 1' HI M INVENTOR OLU F GUOMUND HEYER BY WM,

ATTORNEY5 3,035,417 Patented May 22, 1962 3,035,417 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING PRE- COOLED MATERIAL INTO A ROW OF REFRIG- ERATION CELLS Oluf Gudmund Hyer, 8 Finlandsgade, Aarhus, Denmark Filed Aug. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 831,413 10 Claims. (Cl. 62-65) The invention relates to a method for operating a filling machine of the type having a row of pumps placed side by side for the simultaneous delivery of pre-cooled, liquid or plastic material into a row of refrigeration cells, particularly in a rotary ic ecream brick refrigerator.

In automatically operating ice-cream brick refrigerators, where after the filling of the refrigeration cells a stick is mechanically inserted in the partly frozen material in each cell and where this stick, after the finished freezing of the material and a temporary thawing of the outermost layer of the latter, is used for the mechanical removal of the finished ice-cream bricks, it is of great importance that the material when filled into the cells has a very definite consistency. If due to a too strong pro-freezing the material is too hard, the sticks cannot be inserted into it, and hereby the finished ice-cream brick becomes defective and cannot be removed from the machine. If, on other other hand, the material is too soft, i.e. too slightly frozen, there is the risk that the stick inserted will change its position in the material before the latter in the refrigeration has solidified sufficiently for retaining the stick. An ice-cream brick, the stick of which thus has a wrong position in relation to the grippers of the picking-up apparatus, cannot either be removed mechanically and will therefore necessitate the presence of an operator who can manually remove the ice-cream brick from the refrigeration cell.

It is therefore necessary to keep the consistency of the material filled into the refrigeration cells within relatively narrow limits, and in the known refrigerators of the type referred to, where a row of cells are filled simultaneously, it has proved difiicult to meet this demand for all the pumps in the row, so that there may under certain conditions occur a waste of ice-cream bricks, which cannot be removed mechanically.

It is an object of the invention to avoid these difficulties, and according to the invention this is achieved by cooled material, before being supplied to the refrigeration cells, being used for cooling the ends of the row of pumps.

It has proved that by a cooling thus provided of the outermost pumps in the row and thereby of the material in the latter it is possible to keep the temperature and thereby the consistency of the material filled into each of the refrigeration cells considerably more constant than has hitherto been the case, so that the waste percentage is reduced and the production rate of the machine increased. Particularly in machines for the production of multi-colour ice-cream bricks the invention also remedies the drawback that, due to a too high temperature of the materials, the differently coloured materials may partly merge in the cells filled by the outermost pumps which might lead to a less attractive appearance of the ice-cream bricks.

The invention furthermore relates to a filling machine for carrying out the method described above, and the characteristic feature of this machine is that externally at either end of the row of pumps a cooling chamber is provided which is open towards the end wall of the casing of the outermost pump in the row, said chamber being provided with an inlet opening and an outlet opening, the latter opening communication through a duct with the pumps. The said duct may extend inside a common casing for the pumps or may consist of a pipe extending outside the pumps. According to the invention the said duct preferably terminates in the vicinity of the end of a reservoir for the pumps, said reservoir extending along the row of pumps. When the cold material in this way is supplied to the reservoir at the outermost pumps, which, as experience proves, are most subjected to being heated from the surroundings, the possibility of maintaining a constant temperature in the material supplied to the refrigeration cells by the pumps is improved.

In a simple embodiment of the invention at least one cooling chamber is integral with a common casing for the pumps. When the pumps are gear pumps with common shafts, the pump shafts may advantageously extend into the cooling chambers. The cooling of the pump shafts obtained hereby contributes additionally to the maintenance of constant temperature conditions and thereby of a constant consistency of the material supplied by the individual pumps.

The invention will in the following be further explained with reference to the accompanying diagrammatical drawings in which FIG. 1 shows a vertical section through part of a filling machine with gear pumps according to the invention,

FIG. 2 a section on line -IIII in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 a section on line IIIIII in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 a partly vertical section through a modified embodiment of a filling machine according to the invention, where the pumps are constituted by piston pumps.

FIGS. 1-3 show a unit for a filling machine for a rotary ice-cream brick refrigerator which e.g. may be of the type described in U.S. patent specification No. 2,791,- 890. The refrigerator comprises an annular table 1 in which a number of mould sectors are secured, each of which contains a number of refrigeration cells 2 placed in radial rows and in concentric rings in relation to the table 1. The table 1 is rotatable about a vertical axis through the centre thereof, and during the operation of the refrigerator the table is rotated stepwise corresponding to the angular distance between two successive rows of refrigeration cells 2, whereby the cells successively pass the filling machine shown which fills a predetermined amount of material into each cell, a stick fitting device, which mechanically inserts sticks into the material in the cells, and a picking-up apparatus for removing the ready-frozen ice-cream bricks. Under the rotatable table 1 an annular tank 3 is provided which contains a freezing bath and a thawing bath, through which the refrigeration cells 2 pass during the notation of the table. The tank 3 is surrounded by a heat-insulating wall 4 secured to the frame of the refrigerator, which frame is designated by 5.

The filling machine is provided with a stationary part, not shown, which is secured to the frame 5 of the refrigerator and which serves as a guide for the vertically movable filling unit which is shown in the drawings. By

means of a suitable mechanism the filling unit is moved once downwards and upwards every time the rotatable table is stationary during its stepwise motion. During the upward motion of the filling unit the pumps of the latter are actuated by means not shown, so that the refrigeration cells 2 are filled with material from the bottom, and before the filling unit once more moves downwards the table it is rotated so that another row of. refrigeration cells 2 is located under the filling unit.

The filling unit hasa gear box 6, FIG. 2,.to which an intermediate part 7 is secured which carries a horizontally mounted pump casing 8. The pump casing extends across a radial row of refrigerationcells 2 and contains a number of identical gear pumps, three for each refrigeration cell in the row.

Each gear pump consists of two pump gear wheels 9 and 1t and spacers 11 fill out the interspaces in the pump casing between the gear pumps. All the pump gear wheels 9 are mounted on a common through shaft 12 and are driven by the latter by means of a key 13. The pump gear wheels 10 are mounted so as to be freely rotatable on a through shaft 14. At their ends adjacent the stationary part of the filling machine the shafts 12 and 14 are journalled in the intermediate part 7, and the shaft 12 is provided with a projecting end which through a claw clutch 15 i connected to a shaft 16 which from the gear box 6 projects into the intermediate part 7. To the end of the shaft 16 located opposite tothe claw clutch a gear wheel 17, FIG. 2, is secured which meshes with a gear wheel, not shown, which is in driving connection with the input shaft of the filling machine which is driven from the same motor as the main shaft of the refrigerator. In the driving connection there is provided a releasable coupling which is actuated in time with the motions of the refrigerator and the filling machine, so that the gear pumps supply material to the refrigeration cells only during the part of the working time of the machine intended therefor.

As mentioned above, the pump casing 8 contains three gear pumps 9, 10 for each refrigeration cell 2, the filling machine being intended for the filling of three different kinds of material, e.g. ice-cream of three different colours, into each refrigeration cell. In the lower part of the pump casing 8 there is fitted an elongated filler block 18 having a number of openings 19, one for each gear pump. The filler block 18 is supported by a bottom part 20 which is bolted to the pump casing and in which a number of vertical channels 21 are provided, one in line with each opening 19. A downwards-directed filling tube 22 is telescopically displaceable in each vertical channel 21; as there are three gear pumps 9, 10 for each refrigeration cell 2, there are also three filling tubes 22, which in the position of the filling unit shown in FIG. 1 project into each refrigeration cell 2. The telescopical mobility of the filling tubes 22 prevents breakdown of the machine if inadvertently an ice-cream brick should happen to be in one of the refrigeration cells 2 located under the filling unit in order to get filled.

To the upper side of the pump casing 8 a top part 23 is secured containing three mutually separated chambers 24, 25, and 26 extending longitudinally through the top part. To each of the three chambers 24, 25, and 26, one of the three different materials is supplied which by means of the pumps 9, 10 are filled into the refrigeration cells 2. The communication between the three chambers and the gear pumps is provided by means of openings 27, 28, and 29 in an elongated filler block 30 fitted into the upper side of the pump casing 8 between the top part 23 and the gear pumps. As will be seen from FIG. 2, the openings 27, 28, and 29 are so staggered in relation to each other that the openings 27 establish a communication from the chamber 24 to every third gear pump 9, 10, while the openings 28 and 29 correspondingly establish communication from the chambers and 26, respectively, to the remaining pumps 9, 10, so thatwhen the gear pumps rotate-three different kinds of material are supplied to the three filling tubes 22 in each refrigeration cell 2.

On its upper side the top part 23 carries four threaded branches 31, of which the two seen in FIG. 1 are in communication with the central chamber 25 of the top part, while the two branches shown in FIG. 3 are in communication with the chamber 26. These branches serve for fastening supply tubes for two of the three materials which are preferably supplied in a prefrozen state by continuous refrigerators.

The material for the chamber 24 is supplied, likewise preferably in a pre-frozen or pre-cooled state, not directly to the chamber, but to two cooling chambers 32 located at either end of the pump casing 8. At its left end (adjacent the intermediate part 7 the pump casing 8 is so designed that it directly contains the cooling chamber 32 there present, while the cooling chamber 32 at the opposite end of the pump case is arranged in a separate end part 33 bolted to the pump casing 8. The supply of material to the cooling chambers 32 is effected through vertical channels 34 provided in the left end of the pump casing 8 and in the end part 33, respectively. The channels 34 terminate in threaded branches 35 corresponding to the threaded branches 3.1, to which supply tubes, not shown, for the particular kind of material are connected during the operation of the machine.

From each of the two cooling chambers 32 there leads a horizontal outlet channel 36 provided in the pump casing 8 and the end part "33, respectively, each channel 36 terminating in a threaded branch 37, to which a U- bent tube 38 is secured by means of a union nut 39. The other end of each of the two U-tubes 38 is by means of a corresponding union nut 40 secured to a horizontal branch 41 on the top part 23, the bore of said branch communicating with the chamber 24 in the top part.

During the operation of the filling machine a flow of cooled material passes through the channels 34, the cooling chambers 32 and from these through the channels 36 and the tubes 38 to one of the chambers in the top part and from there to the gear pumps. This flow of material causes an extra cooling of the outermost gear pumps 9, 10 in the pump case by heat transmission, in part through the end wall of the pump casing and the spacers located outside the outermost pump gear wheels, in part through the ends of the pump shafts 12 and 14 extending into the cooling chambers. As a consequence of this extra cooling of the outermost pumps it becomes possible to maintain a very uniform temperature of the material which through the individual pumps is supplied to the refrigeration cells 2, so that the drawbacks, pointed out in the preamble, in the known filling machines, which are due to undesired variations in the temperature of the material in the individual pumps, are remedied. As the supply branches, 31 and 41, respectively, for the distribution chambers 24, 25, and 26 of the top part lie in the vicinity of the ends of the chambers, so that the coldest material is supplied to the outermost pumps, the uniformity of the material discharged through the filling tubes 22 as regards temperature and consistency is furthermore improved.

On the upper side of the top part 23, three cylinders 42 are mounted, each of which communicates with one of the chambers 24, 25, and 26. Each of the cylinders 42 contains a weight-loaded piston 43, each of which serves as overflow valve for one chamber, as, when the piston 43 is raised a certain distance, excess material can flow out through overflow pipes 44. In the bottom part 20 a retractive suction mechanism is mounted which is provided with a horizontally movable piston 45 for each vertical channel 21. All the pistons 45 are actuated simultaneously by means of a pneumatic cylinder 46 at certain pre-determined points of the vertical motion of the filling unit. As neither this retractive suction mechanism, nor the overflow valves 43 form any part of the present invention they are not further described.

FIG. 4 shows the invention used in combination with a filling machine where each refrigeration cell is filled with only one kind of material and where the filling is effected by means of reciprocating pistons, e.g. as described in my copending patent appl. No. 522,607, now Patent No. 2,965,141. This filling machine is, as is the case with the filling machine described above, provided with a filling unit which in time with the stepwise motion of the rotary table of the refrigerator is moved vertically up and down. The filling unit has a pump casing 47 with a cylindrical bore, in which a cylindrical drum 48 can rotate. The drum 48 is fixed axially in the pump casing 47 and at its end not shown, which faces the stationary part of the filling machine, it is connected to a driving mechanism which is arranged for rotating the drum 180 about its horizontal axis at certain points of the motion of the filling unit.

The drum 48 is provided with a row of cylindrical bores 49 which extend at right angles to its axial direction and the axes of which lie in a plane through the drum axis. In the cylindrical bores 49, of which there is one for each refrigeration cell 50 in each radial row of cells, loose pistons 51 are slidable, one in each bore. The pistons 51 are furthermore influenced by weight-loaded rods 52 which are slidable in vertical bores in a horizontal stationary arm 53 above the filling machine. The rods 52 are furthermore guided by a horizontal rail 54 extending internally in a supply container 55 which is in fixed connection with the pump casing 47.

To the underside of the pump casing 47 a row of telescopic filling tubes 56, 57 are secured, one for each bore 49 in the drum 48. The further mode of operation of the filling machine is described in the above-mentioned patent application No. 552,607.

According to the invention there is externally on the pump casing secured an end part 58 which defines a cooling chamber 59 which is open towards the pump casing 47 and the end of the drum 48, and pre-cooled material is supplied to the cooling chamber 59 through a horizontal rearwards-directed channel 60, to the open end of which a supply tube, preferably from a continuous refrigerator is connected. The end part 58 has a vertical upwards-directed extension 61 which by means of a union nut 62 is connected to a discharge tube 63 which extends upwards along the wall of the container 55 and above the upper edge of the latter, where it is bent downwards. The material, which by the piston pumps 49, 51 is to be supplied through the filling tubes 56, 57 to the refrigeration cells 50, thus passes through the cooling chamber before entering the container 55. A quite analogous cooling chamber is mounted in connection with the other end, not shown, of the pumping cylinder 47, and it will be appreciated that this cooling chamber, as was the case with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, may be designed either in the pump case or in an end part secured to the latter.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments here shown and described which can be varied in numerous ways within the scope of the invention. It is particularly pointed out that the pumps supplying material to the refrigeration cells may be of any other suitable design than those here described, and in any case the filling machine may be arranged for supplying one or more different kinds of material to each refrigeration cell, either simultaneously or successively. The invention may also be utilized in filling machines which do not comprise a pump casing common to all the pumps in the row of pumps. Each pump may have a casing of its own, or they may be a separate casing for a number of pumps, e.g. in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 for three pumps associated with one refrigeration cell. Dependent on the operation conditions prevailing it is also possible that only part of the quantity of material supplied to the pumps is used for cooling the outermost pumps of the row, and the constructive means, by which this cooling is achieved, may differ from those here shown.

What I claim is:

1. A method for obtaining uniform temperature conditions of a pre-cooled material which is delivered into a row of refrigeration cells by means of a row of metering pumps associated with said refrigeration cells, in which at least part of said material is caused to flow externally in heat exchanging contact with the outermost pumps in said row of pumps before being delivered to said refrigeration cells.

2. Apparatus for filling pre-cooled material into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a row of displacement pumps, outlet means from each of said pumps to an associated refrigeration cell, and inlet duct means for said material communicating with the inlet side of each of said pumps, said inlet duct means being over at least a portion of its extension in heat exchanging contact with an outer housing of the outermost pumps in said row of pumps.

3. Apparatus for filling pro-cooled material into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a casing, a row of displacement pumps in said casing, an inlet chamber extending longitudinally of said row of pumps and communicating with the inlet side of each pump, inlet duct means opening into said inlet chamber and being over at least a portion of its extension in heat exchanging contact with an outer wall of the outermost pump at either end of said row of pumps.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which said inlet duct means opens in said inlet chamber near the end thereof.

5. Apparatus for filling pre-cooled material into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a casing, a row of displacement pumps in said casing, an inlet chamber extending longitudinally of said row of pumps and communicating with the inlet side of each pump, a cooling chamber in said casing adjacent an outer end wall of the outermost pump at either end of said row of pumps, inlet duct means opening into either of said cooling chambers and duct means from either of said cooling chambers to said inlet chamber.

6. Apparatus for filling pre-coolecl material into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a casing, a first shaft extending longitudinally of said casing and journalled therein, means for rotating said first shaft, first pump gear wheels d-rivingly connected to said first shaft, second pump gear wheels meshing pairwise with said first gear wheels to form therewith a row of pumps, a second shaft supporting said second pump gear wheels and journalled in said casing, a cooling chamber adjacent an outer wall of the outermost pump at either end of said row of pumps, the ends of said first and second shaft extending into said cooling chambers, inlet duct means opening into either of said cooling chambers, duct means from either of said cooling chambers to an inlet chamber extending longitudinally of said row of pumps and communicating with the inlet side of each pump, and outlet means from each pump to an associated refrigeration cell.

7. Apparatus for filling a plurality of pre-cooled materials into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a row of displacement pumps, outlet means from each of said pumps to an associated refrigeration cell, and separate inlet means for each of said materials each communicating with the inlet side of a number of pumps for the material in question, at least one of said inlet means being over at least a portion of its extension in heat exchanging contact with an outer housing of the outermost pumps in said row of pumps.

8. Apparatus for filling a plurality of pre-cooled materials into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a casing, a row of displacement pumps in said casing, driving means for said pumps, an inlet chamber for each of said materials extending longitudinally of said row of pumps and communicating withthe inlet side of a number of said pumps for delivering said material to outlet means leading from each pump to an associated refrigeration cell, a cooling chamber adjacent an outer endwall of the outermost pump at either end of said row of pumps, inlet duct means opening into either of said cooling chambers, transfer duct means from either of said cooling chambers to one of said inlet chambers, and inlet duct means leading directly to the remainder of said inlet chambers.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which said transfer duct means and said inlet duct means leading to said inlet chambers open in said chambers near the ends thereof.

10. Apparatus for filling a plurality of pre-cooled materials into a row of refrigeration cells, comprising a casing, a first shaft extending longitudinally of said casing,

means for rotating said first shaft, first pump gear wheels drivingly connected to said first shaft, second pump gear wheels meshing pairwise with said first gear wheels to form therewith a row of pumps, a second shaft supporting said second pump gear wheels, a cooling chamber adjacent an outer wall of the outermost pump at either end of said row of pumps, the ends of said first and second shaft being journalled in said casing and extending into said cooling chambers, a plurality of inlet chambers, one for each of said materials, extending longitudinally of said row of pumps and communicating each with the inlet side of a number of said pumps for delivering the material in question to outlet means leading from each pump References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 796,724 Hewitt Aug. 8, 1905 2,736,480 Anderson Feb. 28, 1956 2,750,891 Berry June 19, 1956 2,791,890 Hoyer May 14, 1957 

